Garment waist construction



June 28, 1955 R. M. SMITH GARMENT WAIST CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept 30, 1954 IN V ENTOR lll Ez'ahrdfl Jazz 2% AT ORNEY United States Patent 0 GARMENT WAIST CONSTRUCTION Richard M. Smith, Swampscott, Mass., assignor to David H. Smith, Inc., Lynn, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 30, 1954, Serial No. 459,296

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-74) Thepresent invention relates generally to the construction of the back waist portion of wearing apparel, and more particularly to a back waist construction formed to afford a resilient yielding of the garment in this area to facilitate free movement of the arms, shoulders, and back of the wearer.

Since it is contemplated that the present invention would find its greatest field of utility in application to womens sporting dresses, such as those designed for golfing, tennis, bowling and the like, it is therefore herein described principally in relation to that application. However, it will become apparent from a consideration of the following description that the present construction is likewise applicable to dresses of other design, and to blouses, waists, jackets, and skirts for both mens and womens wear.

Particularly in the field of womens sporting dresses, such as thosendesigned for golfing, bowling, tennis and likewear, it has been a desideratum to design the waist portion to afford a tailored look as distinguished from a full and loose blousey appearance. Since these dresses are normally made from a woven material, a serious drawback to this line of design results from the attendant confinement of arm, shoulder, and back movement so essen-' tial to proper and comfortable exercise of the sport. Various expedients have been resorted to by dress manufacturers in order to provide the desired functional body freedom while retaining the tailored design attribute. To this end, it has been the practice to form or include in the back waist such constructions as pleats, inverted pleats, shirr edyokes, or set-in pieces of foreign materials, as elastic or elastic fabrics. These expedients all suffer from various disadvantages. In the case of pleats, for example, they do not stay in place and frequently form a bunched or humped appearance in wear. Additionally, these various expedients add considerably to the complexity and resultant cost of manufacture of the garment. They also in many instances seriously detract from the continuity and hence the aesthetic qualities of the garment design.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a novel back waist construction for garments, particularly applicable to garments made'from Woven fabric or material, which enables the desired tailored waist design, while affording complete freedom to the arms, shoulders, and back of the wearer, and at the same time overcoming the disadvantages of the expedients heretofore employed. This end is accomplished by forming the back waist to provide a resilient yieldability of the garment material in the area of the back and shoulders. By the present invention, in a garment constructed of woven material, over a substantial area of the back waist a yoke is provided which is formed substantially on the bias of the material, the remainder of the garment, in accordance with preferred practices, being formed substantially on the straight or warp of the material. Because of the inherent resilient stretchability along the bias line of a woven material, I have found that by provision of the aforesaid yoke, a tailored waist nevertheless affords com- Accordingly it is one object of the present invention to provide a back waist construction for garments giving complete freedom of back and shoulder action, while preserving the aesthetic appearance of the garment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment of woven material having a back waist construction affording a resilient yieldability in the area of the shoulders and back.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment having a waist of substantially tailored design, and having a back waist construction affording complete freedom of back and shoulder action.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a back waist construction for dresses giving complete freedom of back and shoulder action.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description of one exemplary specific embodiment of the present invention, had in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like or corresponding parts, and wherein:

Fig. l is a back view of a dress constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the dress shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the back waist portion of the dress shown in Fig. 1, illustrating in dotted line view the yieldability of the back waist construction; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the dress 10, with the exception of the back waist yoke generally denoted by the mo meral 20, is of conventional construction, and as depicted in the drawings in possessed of a substantially tailored waist design.

tionally constructed skirt portion 11 stitched at 40 to a waistportion formed of panels 12: and 30. The waist portion may be conventionally provided with sleeves 13 stitched to the arm holes at 41, and with a collar 14 secured thereto by stitching 44. Running from either side of collar 14 to the arm holes are the shoulder seams 42, and extending from the armholes to the waist line 49 on both sides of the waist are the side seams 43. Shoulder and side seams 42 and 43 function to unite the waist back panel 12 and waist front panel 30 into an integral upper body portion for the garment. The garment may be partially or fully buttoned down the front, if desired, as indicated at 31.

Considering more particularly the back yoke 20, as shown in the preferred embodiment, it is formed with a continuous somewhat rounded curvature of substantially U configuration extending downwardly substantially from the shoulder line depicted by the shoulder and collar seams 42 and 44 and embracing a substantial portion of the back waist area. This yoke is applied to the dress by forming the basic back waist piece or panel 12 with a cut out area substantially conforming to the area of the yoke, and inserting the yoke therein to complete the back waist, as shown. As best illustrated in Fig. 4, the yoke 20 is preferably joined to the basic back waist piece 12 by a single row of lock stitching 22 and then the The dress 10 is provided with a conven pieces are top stitched with a single row of top stitching 21.

The yoke 20 is formed from a woven fabric or material, and as indicated at 23, this piece is cut and applied to the garment on the bias. The remainder of the dress.

is also preferably formed of woven fabric or material, but the pieces are cut and united substantially on the straight or the warp of the material, as indicated at 24 and 25, in accordance with conventional practices. It is further preferred that the yoke and remainder of the dress be made from the same material, in order to preserve the aesthetic continuity of the present back waist construction'and effect the greatest economy in manufacture.

In Fig. 3, the dotted line position illustrates the action of the present back waist construction when the arms and shoulders of the wearer are moved forward. Due to the resiliency of the bias cut yoke 20 along the bias line, upon the application of a transverse stress across the back and shoulders of the dress, as by forward movement of the wearers arms and shoulders, the yoke stretches in the direct-ions of the arrows 15 and expands to the dotted line position 16. In this manner, the stresses across the back of the waist are absorbed by the yoke, which yields in response thereto to afford the wearer complete freedom of back and shoulder action. stresses across the back and shoulders in the vertical direction will be responded to by the yoke in a similar manner.

Although the yoke is shown and described in the specific embodiment as being of substantially U shape and extending downwardly from the shoulder and collar seams over a substantial portion of the back waist, it is not intended thereby to limit the scope of the present invention to this specific form. The significant feature is that the bias formed yoke cover the area of the back through which stresses and strains from physical movement occur. Under these conditions the yoke will relieve the straight cut pieces from strain and afford complete freedom of back and shoulder action to the wearer, despite a substantially tailored cut of the waist.

There is thus provided a back waist construction giving complete freedom of back and shoulder action while preserving the aesthetic appearance of the garment, and wherein the entire garment including the yoke of the present invention may be constructed from the same woven material if desired. This freedom of action may be aiforded the garment without resort to darts and pleats which are inherent weak points in garments placed under pulling stresses. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment of the yoke illustrated in the drawings, it is set in in a shape providing one continuous curve, without As is readily apparent,

corners which would make for weak points in the construction.

The foregoing specific embodiment of the present invention is presented merely by way of example, and modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications as are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims are within the contemplation 0f the present invention.

1 claim:

1. In a dress of woven material, a waist comprising a front waist panel and a back waist panel formed substantially on the straight of the material and seamed together to form an upper body portion for the dress, said back waist panel having a yoke insert of woven material free of elastic threads seamed thereto, said yoke being formed and inserted substantially on the bias of the material and having substantially a U configuration, said yoke extending substantially from the shoulder line of the waist downwardly to cover a substantial portion of the back waist area, to provide a resilient yieldability tothe back waist substantially along the bias lines of the yoke.

2. In a garment of woven material, a waist comprising front and back waist sections formed substantially on the straight of the material and seamed to form an upper body portion-for the garment, said waist being formed and adapted to substantially cover the shoulders of a wearer, said back waist section having a yoke insert of woven material seamed thereto, said yoke being formed and inscrted substantially on the bias of the material and extending substantially from the shoulder line of the waist downwardly to cover a substantial portion of the back waist area, to provide a resilient yieldability to the back waist section substantially along the bias lines of the yoke.

3. In a garment as defined in claim 2, said waist being further characterized by a shoulder line seam, and said yoke being free of elastic threads and having a substantially U configuration.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

